Nantucket's
Science Center

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE If you would like a second opportunity to see Tucker Finerty’s magnetic photography while he’s in residence, please join us for open studio hours this Saturday 10:00AM - 6:00PM at 33 Washington Street. Tucker will be on hand to discuss his body of work, walk through available works for sale, and share tidbits of his upcoming public programming at the MMA. Make a day of it by visiting the Aquarium across the street! Thank you @tuckerfinerty — #mariamitchellassociation #tuckerfinerty #artistinresidence

POP-UP SUMMER BOUTIQUE The MMA is thrilled to welcome a curated selection of artisanal entrepreneurs at our 33 Washington Street waterfront space. From Saturday, July 29 - Saturday, Aug 5, the MMA pop-up summer boutique will feature small vendors including: — Choix Home, chic tabletop and fashion accessories — J. Earl & Sons unique barware — Kim Donaldson Jewelry — Those Carl Girls tote bags — Future Primitive, exquisite artisan clothing — Whale Tail Weaving, Nantucket basket bracelets and accessories Each vendor has a special relationship to Nantucket and the MMA, including two former MMA campers! We’re thrilled to share our space with these entrepreneurial regional businesses and receive their support as we raise funds for the MMA's Aquarium project. Please join us Saturday, July 29th, for an opening “Sip & Shop” party from 5:00PM - 7:00PM featuring Blade & Bow Bourbon. Opening day for vendors will be Sunday, July 30th from 11:00PM - 4:00PM. Thereafter, booths will be open through Saturday, August 5th from 11:00AM - 4:00PM with a suggested onetime donation of $10 that benefits the MMA's Aquarium project. Join us! #nantucket #popup #nantucketshopping

NEW COLLECTIONS OPEN HOURS Saturdays 11:00am - 1:00pm at the MMA Research Center, please join the MMA's Field Ornithologist, Ginger Andrews, to learn about our collections, why collections are so important to science, and examine different specimens during each session. From specimens of birds and mammals to insects and plants, you never know what will be on display! Contact email: jgurley@marimitchell.org This program is FREE to all visitors. • Image courtesy Artist-in-Residence Tucker Finerty

SMILES AT OUR AQUARIUM The MMA Aquarium is open Saturdays from 10AM - 1PM, come rain or shine. Thank you handsome baby Jack for visiting us! #aquarium #mariamitchellassociation #nantucket #staycool #heatwave

TUCKER FINERTY | OPENS TONIGHT Tucker Finerty opens tonight at the Maria Mitchell Association’s 33 Washington Street space on Nantucket. All are welcome! A huge thanks to Cisco Brewers, Bonterra Organic Vineyards and Flotsam for their support. Finerty will be the MMA’s artist-in-residence through August 13, 2023. Join him for a special photo walk this month. Full program listings on our website calendar as announced. #TuckerFinerty #mariamitchellassociation #mariamitchell

SUNRISE BEACH MEDITATION Join Andrew Viselli, for 45-minute guided breathwork and meditation sessions on Wednesday mornings to usher in, with gratitude, a beautiful Nantucket day as the sun rises over the Nantucket harbor. This all-level guided practice meets at the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium at 28 Washington Street, Nantucket MA. Pre-registration is required as space is limited. In the event of inclement weather, the program will be cancelled and participants notified. This class is recommended for all levels and is beginner friendly. Please bring your own mats/props. Cost Per Participant: $30 | Register via our website #yoga #meditation #mariamitchellassociation

OIKA FOR ARTISTS WITH RITA LEDUC Join us this Thursday, July 13th, 6:00pm - 7:30pm for our continued Science Speaker Series. Our scientist-in-residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, and visiting artist Rita Leduc will merge scientific concepts with artists’ lived-experience in nature to strengthen creativity and amplify cultural impact. By positioning contemporary, holistic, scientific understandings adjacent to creative engagement with the outside world, individualized creative practices are supported, enhanced, and empowered. What does it mean to be prosperous? What does it mean to be an Earthling? Join us Wednesday for her free artists’ talk at the Research Center Wednesday at 7:00PM. Join us Thursday via Zoom to learn more! If you would like to join for this talk a la carte, please email jgurley@mariamitchell.org. #ThisisOika #mariamitchellassociation #RitaLeDuc #artistinresidence

SCALLOPS SCALLOPS SCALLOPS Please join us for a Scallop Presentation with Dr. Val Hall, with her Scallop Lab Research Assistants and high school interns! WHEN: Tuesday July 18, 2023 4:00 PM WHERE: Great Harbor Yacht Club WHAT: Dr. Val Hall, her lab assistants and interns will give a formal presentation on bay scallop biology as well as define student driven research questions, and describe the procedures used to study bay scallops. In recent years, bay scallops have declined in numbers and Dr. Hall's research is an important component to our understanding of the Nantucket ecosystem’s overall health. This presentation is complimentary and open to the public. #mariamitchellassociation #scallop #shellfish

TUCKER FINERTY OPENS AT THE MMA The Maria Mitchell Association is pleased to announce the opening of Tucker Finerty’s solo photography show, this Thursday, July 13, from 5:30PM - 7:00PM at the MMA’s 33 Washington Street waterfront gallery space. Sponsored by Cisco Brewers, Bonterra Organic Vineyards, and Flotsam, the opening will inaugurate Finerty’s month-long artist residency, featuring public programming, bookable via the MMA website. #mariamitchellassociation #tuckerfinerty #nantucket #nantucketphotos #art #fineart #fineartphotography

FISHER FAMILY PICNIC Still dreaming of the vats of frosty, creamy ice cream at the annual Fisher Family Picnic, at the MMA’s Washington Street waterfront spaces. A huge thanks to Fisher Nantucket for making this such a special annual event — abundant in laughter, overdue hugs, children playing, and all the fixings thanks to our friends at Island Kitchen and Cisco Brewers. Happy July! Next up… our nearly sold out Stargazer Gala. Can’t wait to dance with you all under the stars. • • • • • • • #mariamitchellassociation #mariamitchell #fisher #fishernantucket #party #picnic #gala #july #summer

OUR SUMMER GALA Please join us Thursday, July 27, 2023 for our annual summer gala! Set on the shores of Polpis Harbor, this is an evening not to be missed. Guests will enjoy the sunset dancing to musical guest stars Fleetwood Macked, delicious food by Island Kitchen, and stargazing with our professional astronomers! Come dance the night away while celebrating and supporting the MMA’s diverse programming for learners of all ages. This incredible night is made possible with thanks to our visitors, staff, supporters, gala committee and sponsors. Tickets now available! Link in bio. #StargazerGala #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #summer #nantucket #nantucket #gala #mma #ammazing #summergala #nantucketparty

BEGINNER ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY The MMA is thrilled to offer a very special astrophotography program, led by island photographer — and the MMA’s incoming August Artist-in-Residence, Charity Grace Mofsen — and MMA Telescope Engineer and Astronomer, Gary Walker. The astrophotography course will be held on Thursdays August 3 - August 24, 2023. This astrophotography program is geared towards beginner or budding astrophotographers interested in learning more about photographing celestial objects. This paid course will also help to offset costs associated with a future course by local Nantucket High School students interested in photography and learning about dark skies. The course consists of four workshop-style classes with field work and live shooting time and costs $700. Classes will start with cell phones and DSLR's and progress to the RC24 inch telescope at Loines Observatory. Each class will build on the previous and fun-work will be assigned. The first session will focus on an introduction to astrophotography. The second session will be a trial run for the amateur photographers who will be able to practice camera setup, including manual settings, and practice shooting. The third session will consist of a continuation of practice shooting, while also focusing on capturing printable photos. The fourth and final session will be for post-processing. Also, an introduction to basic editing of the photos taken will be discussed. Astrophotography is the use of photography in astronomy – the photographing of celestial objects and phenomena. In addition to capturing details of extended objects like the Moon, it also has the power to image objects not visible to the human eye, such as dim stars, nebulae, and galaxies. The MMA’s beginner's astrophotography workshop intends to give participants the foundations needed to take dramatic pictures of our precious dark skies.

CURRENT SEA Deep dive into mermaids purses now live on @nantucketcurrent to inaugurate the MMA opening of a new “Skate Egg Hatchery Exhibit”! Read the full holiday round-up at NantucketCurrent.com. Happy Independence Day to to all who celebrate! #mariamitchellaquarium #nantucket

SCIENCE SPEAKER SERIES | MEASURING THE GROWTH OF THE UNIVERSE Join us! Our Science Speaker Series continues this week with Tanveer Karim, Wednesday, July 5th 7:00pm - 8:00pm How the largest structures in the Universe grew from the beginning of time to what we see today is a major puzzle in understanding the evolution of our Universe! Recent studies that measure the growth of structure in our Universe appear to disagree with each other depending on whether the data was obtained from the very early Universe or the more recent Universe. In this talk, Tanveer Karim will contextualize this emerging exciting, yet puzzling, anomaly seen in cosmological datasets and what it may suggest about our Universe. Additionally, Karim will share a new measurement that hopes to shed light into this anomaly using multiple datasets. Finally, he will expand on how the ongoing and future cosmological surveys can potentially resolve this anomaly and paint a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the Universe. A 2016 Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates intern in the MMA Astronomy Department, Tanveer Karim is currently a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and will be starting as a Faculty of Arts & Sciences Fellow and a Dunlap Fellow at the University of Toronto in the fall of 2023. He recently defended his Ph.D. from Harvard University and prior to that obtained his B.S. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Rochester. His area of specialization is observational cosmology, and he has been involved with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration since the beginning of his graduate school career. Outside of research, he enjoys the outdoors, reading, and learning languages. This talk is complimentary and presented in person at the MMA Research Center at 2 Vestal Street or via Zoom, please pre-register. #mariamitchellassociation #nantucket #science #stem #universe

OIKA OFFERINGS A big thank you to everyone who joined for our second artist-in-residence opening of the season! Thursdays, July 6th and 13th, will be Oika for Artists with artist-in-residence Rita LeDuc and Big History with scientist-in-residence Dr. Rich Blundell. Wednesday, July 12th, Oika artist Rita Leduc will speak about how her place-based, nature-grounded art practice aligns with Maria Mitchell's directive to, "Mingle the starlight with your lives." Referencing her artwork currently installed in and around the MMA grounds as part of the Oika art exhibition, she will describe how her process of direct, personal acquaintance with place creates work that is tethered on one end to "life"- specific relationships with place, and on the other to "starlight," i.e., universal concepts of reciprocity, continuity, and consciousness. * photos courtesy @henry_michaelis #Oika #oikaforartists #ritaleduc #artist #artistinresidence

THE WEEK AHEAD Join us today, Monday, July 3, for: — Feeding Frenzy — Bug Bonanza — Ravenous Reptiles — Full Moon Nature Walk — Open Night Stargazing at Loines Observatory Our facilities will be closed on July 4th in observance of Independence Day. Wednesday, July 5th, will offer: — Sunrise Meditation — Feeding Frenzy — Ravenous Reptiles — Bug Bonanza — Mindfulness in Nature — Science Speaker Series with Tanver Karim — Nighttime Marine Ecology Trip — Open Night Stargazing at Loines Observatory Thursday, July 6th, will offer: — Marine Ecology Field Trip — Feeding Frenzy — Ravenous Reptiles — Bug Bonanza — Earth Story Walk — Oika for Artists with Rita LeDuc — Owl Prowl — Big History Friday, July 7th, will offer: — Sunrise Yoga — Marine Ecology Field Trip — Feeding Frenzy — Ravenous Reptiles — Bug Bonanza — Marine Story Hour — Open Night The MMA Aquarium, Mitchell House and Natural Science Museum will be open 10AM - 4PM weekdays, closed July 4th. Weekday and weekend hours, as well as all public programming is updated regularly on our website. All programs can be pre-booked via our website calendar. …and thank you to everyone who joined for our Sailors’ Valentines Workshop! We were blown away, pun intended, by your organic creations. Happy Independence Day week! #mariamitchell #land #sea #sky #july4th #mariamitchellassociation #sailors #sailorsvalentine #seashells #shells #crafts #nantucket #nantucketisland

WEEKEND ROUND UP Happy 4th of July weekend! Our facilities will be open this weekend; and we are excited to welcome you. Please join us for animal feedings and scientific exploration at Hinchman House, a veritable bug collecting bonanza with our Science Museum Director, a soothing Full Moon Nature Walk with our Executive Director, Stargazing at Loines Observatory with our Director of Astronomy — and more. Full list of offerings available on our website calendar. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #weekend #weekendplans #july4th #holidayweekend #america #nantucket #mass #capecod #islands #turtles #snakes #museums

EARTH STORY WALK Please join MMA's scientist-in-residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, on a journey through the extraordinary story of planet Earth. Each stride of this 3 mile walk will touch on approximately one million years of Earth and human history. Along the way we will stop to explore the major thresholds of geologic time and also reconsider how the events and processes of deep time have led to our current global state of existence. By considering the broader scales of the Earth's story we will gain new insights to interpret the science in more meaningful ways. Walks are held Thursdays at 2:00PM. We meet at the Gardner Farm property at 185 Hummock Pond Rd, Nantucket MA. Pre-registration is required for this event. In the case of inclement weather, we will hold the event indoors at the Maria Mitchell Association Research Center at 2 Vestal Street. In this image by Tom Griswold, a male Yellow Warbler shows off his breeding plumage of orange streaks on the breast. They are among our earliest to nest on Nantucket. Listen for their song. Remember it by the mnemonic "sweet sweet sweet I am so sweet." Look for them in the tops and branches of deciduous trees. Watch to see if food is being delivered” — MMA Ornithologist Ginger Andrews

THE STARGAZER GALA Limited tickets are still available for our annual Stargazer Gala! Join us at a private waterfront estate in Polpis Harbor, for drinks, dinner and dancing under the stars. Featuring musical guest Fleetwood Macked, delicious food by Island Kitchen, ample drinks from @ciscobrewers and stargazing with our professional astronomers, games, auction and more — our biggest annual celebration and fundraiser allows us to continue offering low to no cost programming year-round to thousands of visitors and residents alike. We are so excited to celebrate with you! #mariamitchellassociation #stargazergala #nantucket

DR. GIOVANNI FAZIO It is with great pleasure that we tee up for a most distinguished 90 year old guest in our Science Speaker Series this evening. We’re so excited to see the sign ups rolling in for this complimentary talk by Dr. Giovanni Fazio, renowned American physicist. His lecture will lead a grand tour of the Universe, beginning at our planet Earth, traveling through our Solar System, Galaxy, and into extragalactic space, ending at the edge of the known Universe. Dr. Giovanni G. Fazio is currently a Senior Physicist, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian; Faculty Emeritus, International Space University, Strasbourg, France; and for many years a Lecturer, Astronomy Department, Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has performed research in the area of space astronomy for more that sixty years. He has been the Principal Investigator for instruments on three space telescope missions and Co-Investigator on a fourth space mission. He was the Principal Investigator for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope/Infrared Array Camera, which observed the Universe for more than sixteen years. He has served on numerous NASA advisory committees and was the recipient of many national and international awards. Our heartfelt thanks to @bankofamerica @whiteelephantresorts and @ciscobrewers for their support of our Science Speaker Series — which makes this dynamic programming free to the public. See you tonight! Sign up via our website or in stories. #GiovanniFazio #Harvard #Smithsonian #MariaMitchellAssociation

STONE MONUMENT CLEANING …elevated to art form, as led by multi-talented MMA Deputy Director and Curator Jascin Finger. We loved having so many people join us for this annual rite of summer. Please note that we utilize a special cleaner made for stone monuments and a proper conservation process. One can be trained in such cleaning and in using the proper tools and cleaner. One must also have permission form the cemetery to clean a stone — even of one’s own family — and one must never clean stones without permission from family members or descendants. #StoneMonument #Gravestone #Cleaning

NANTUCKET MAGAZINE Loving this guide to keeping your kiddos entertained this summer in the June issue of Nantucket Magazine by Nantucket’s own @barnabybearbooks — Look Up at Loines Observatory continues Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week! Sign up on our website.

THE TEACHER BIRD Red-eyed Vireos are active in the treetops now. Their two-part chatty lectures continue all day long, making one of their nicknames “the teacher bird”. Join our go-to bird teacher, MMA Ornithologist Ginger Andrews for her evening Owl Prowl this Thursday… sky’s literally the limit on birding opportunities here on island! 📷 by Tom Griswold #OwlProwl #MariaMitchellAssociation #RedEyedVireos #Nantucket

FISHER TRAVEL GUIDE Love this @fishernantucket …So excited for our upcoming Fisher Family Picnic, and grateful for your support! #FisherNantucket #MariaMitchellAssociation #InGoodCompany

BARN OWL PARTY It was such a pleasure to welcome our friends, supporters, and patrons to our annual Barn Owl Party this week. Barn Owls are known to have begun breeding on Nantucket in 1968. During the severe winters of 2002/2003, the population crashed to a low of only one known owl in 2005! In 2006, we knew of one successful nest — and the population has been increasing since then — helped perhaps by the construction of many nesting boxes. The MMA’s Barn Owl Sponsorship Program allows residents to purchase a nest box for their property, which is installed and monitored by Dr. Bob Kennedy, our incredible bird-whispering MMA Senior Research Fellow. It is a great joy for us to see the dozens of boxes which cover the island now; and whose inhabitants not only play a critical role in our ecosystem — but bring so much joy to their neighboring humans. #BarnOwl #Nantucket #MariaMitchellAssociation

STAR REPORT Repost @97.7ackfm — “Have you listened to the latest Star Report podcast with @mariamitchellassociation? In the most recent episode Michele Woodland, a National Science Foundation research fellow at MMA, examines the planet Venus, the brightest object in the Western evening sky this month. Check it out on our website now!” 📸: @photohoenk

OIKA FOR ARTISTS WITH RITA LEDUC This Thursday June 22nd at 6:00pm we kick off OIKA for Artists with Dr. Rich Blundell, and visiting artist Rita Leduc for an exciting dive into Oika. In this course we merge scientific concepts with artists’ lived-experience in nature to strengthen creativity and amplify cultural impact. By positioning contemporary, holistic, scientific understandings adjacent to creative engagement with the outside world, individualized creative practices are supported, enhanced, and empowered. There are a growing number of us who suspect that the deep intelligence of nature holds the wisdom we need to move through our time of systemic dysfunction and necessary adaptation. Oika is a philosophy that recouples this ecological intelligence of nature to culture through the insights of science and the creativity of artists. Oika for Artists calls upon artists who sense this deep intelligence to imagine a better future and lead the way. This program meets weekly on Zoom from 6:00pm - 7:30pm. Pre-Registration is Required for this progressive workshop which is a 4 week series. Cost per-participant: $150 Registration deadline today: June 21st, 2023 (6pmEST) Program dates: June 22, 29, July 6 and 13 Contact email: rblundell@mariamitchell.org

Favorite fundraiser of the year: barn owl bash! Come along with us to meet mama barn owl and her baby owlets - some just 2 weeks old. Aren’t they so magical? Listen to us as we talk to mama! Lucky for us, to be on Nantucket is to be one with nature. So to raise funds to save these cherished owls, one night a year we get to meet and worship them up close. Maria Mitchell believes the best way to experience nature is by doing and learning firsthand. We so agree - and thanks to everyone for helping raise thousands of dollars for this incredible barn owl nest box program. Yay! #nature #owl

HORSESHOE CRAB SOLSTICE WALK Thursday, Jun 22nd 8:00pm - 9:00pm Horseshoe crabs were some of Earth’s first astronomers! For over 450 million years, horseshoe crabs have been precisely coordinating their spawning behaviors with the lunar cycle to protect their eggs from marine predators. In celebration of International Horseshoe Crab Day and the summer solstice, join MMA Director of Astronomy Dr. Regina Jorgenson and MMA Aquarium Director Jack Dubinsky on a special interdisciplinary night walk on the beach as we search for horseshoe crabs, learn about horseshoe crab biology, and discuss the physics of lunar phases, seasons, and tides! We will also observe constellations and discuss how marine organisms, including horseshoe crabs, may use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate in the ocean. This program is designed to be interesting for adults and children ages 13 and older. Horseshoe Crab Solstice Walk meets at the Madaket Harbor on Massachusetts Avenue, Madaket. All registered children must be accompanied by a registered adult to participate in this program. Pre-registration is required for this nighttime program. Registration closes at 4pm on the day of the program. Flashlights or headlamps will be provided, but it is recommended that you bring your own lighting. Personal transport to and from the meeting location is required to participate in the event of inclement weather, this program will be cancelled and participants notified. Cost Per Participant: $45 #mariamitchellassociation #summersolstice

THE ART OF THE NATURAL WORLD The Art of Oika opens at the Maria Mitchell Association tomorrow, Thursday, June 15, 5:30PM - 7:00PM, 33 Washington Street, Nantucket Island. Come learn about Oika and see the latest works from the MMA Oika Artists-in-Residence. Maria Mitchell’s Scientist-in-Residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, will provide a brief presentation about the origin and role of Oika Art, followed by conversations with the artists about their works. *Cover image courtesy Wampanoag artist Robert Peters

Green is my power color 💥 A new hand-painted imprimatura style mural is enveloping a 4 wall transitional area of the MMA’s Natural Science Museum. @mariamitchellassociation #imprimaturamural #monochromemural #mural #muralart #naturalsciencemuseum #nantucket #nantucketisland #mariamitchell #greenroom #handpainted #muralist #forestry #homedecor #interiordesign #forest #wildlife #customart

CLEAN WATER COALITION The Clean Water Coalition is a group of local organizations working collaboratively to develop a common agenda for protecting Nantucket’s waters. We invite you to be curious about your wastewater, stormwater and fertilizer usage. On an island where we are surrounded by water, clean water is everybody’s issue. Partners include the Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket Land Council, Nantucket Shellfish Association, Nantucket Island Land Bank, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Mass Audubon, Marine Mammal Alliance, Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation, Sustainable Nantucket, UMass Boston Field Station, ACKlimate, Nantucket Conservation, Nantucket Civic League, and Nantucket Pond Coalition. Please join us in protecting our most valuable natural resource. #water #nantucket #cleanwatercoalition

CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER A big thank you to Mr. Todd Kingston Plummer for his inclusion of our nascent Artist-in-Residence program in his annual must read summer guide to Nantucket. Our next show opens this Thursday 5:30 - 7:00 at 33 Washington Street, generously sponsored by @ciscobrewers —

EXOPLANETS: WHERE THEY ARE AND HOW YOU CAN HELP FIND THEM? … in our Science Speaker Series! Considering the immense size and scale of our own solar system, one would expect that finding planets around other stars, or exoplanets, would be nearly impossible. However, over the past few decades, astronomers have developed many amazing techniques for accomplishing this task. In this talk, Lark will discuss these techniques, and describe the method used to aid in the search for exoplanets. He will also describe how you can get involved in helping NASA discover exoplanets using your own backyard telescope! Dr. Adam Lark is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Physics Department at Hamilton College and the Director of the Peters Observatory. He earned his doctorate at the University of Toledo researching discovery-based learning in physics laboratories and globular clusters detection techniques. Using the modest telescope at the Peters Observatory, Lark aids in the search for exoplanets through NASA's TESS follow-up exoplanet observation program. This talk is complimentary and presented via Zoom, please pre-register via our website this Thursday, June 15, at 7:00PMEST. #mariamitchellassociation #sciencespeakerseries

THE ART OF OIKA The Art of Oika is a group show curated by MMA’s scientist-in-residence, ecologist Dr. Rich Blundell, opening a week from today, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Oika refers to the intelligence of nature as felt by humans. Working in collaboration with each other and the habitats of Nantucket, each artist in this exhibition embodies the deep ecological principles of Oika in their own  unique manner. The show includes: — Rita LeDuc works in painting, drawing, collage, and photography. Her visual research on Nantucket tracks the changes in character of the color gray as it traverses Nantucket; and an investigation into what can be unearthed in the ecosystem’s “gray areas.” — Dakota Clearwater LaCroix works in sound, video, storytelling, and installation. He is focused on rediscovering “Poetics of Place”. While in residency he is rethinking and relating to the nature, history, and culture of Nantucket. — Dena Haden works in installation and fiber art to embody the ebb and flow of life cycles and the residue they leave in passing. Through the intentional act of collecting, growing, and building. organic materials, she creates moments in time to honor nature. — Robert Peters is a Mashpee Wampanoag artist, writer, fire keeper and keeper of indigenous oral traditions. His body of work reflects life and nature from an indigenous perspective. He believes that in the telling of our stories through art, words, and actions we take back a measure of power  that people have given away. All our welcome at the public opening, generously sponsored by @ciscobrewers — #TheArtofOika

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE A big thank you to the patrons of our nascent Artist-in-Residence Program, including our friends @ciscobrewers | We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend opening of Nantucket photography by @henry_michaelis | Stay tuned for upcoming announcements of our next show! Photos by incoming artist in residence @tuckerfinerty #nantucket #mariamitchellassociation #artistsinresidence

STONE CLEANING This Saturday, June 10, the MMA in conjunction with the Prospect Hill Cemetery, will offer our yearly stone monument conservation workshop. In 2022, we cleaned the stone of Lydia Coffin Hussey. Why? Because the MMA has in its collection a small wooden marker which was likely discarded and found at the dump. On it was a number and Lydia Coffin Hussey’s name written in pencil. Likely, this marker was placed at her burial site until a stone could be erected – in order to mark her gravesite though it’s in a larger family plot. With a little digging – in great part thanks Tuck’t In by Prospect Hill Cemetery historian, Paula Lundy Levy – we were able to glean some basic details about her… She married the Reverend Christopher Coffin Hussey – yes, Coffin was in both their names, small island – and they had three daughters – two of whom are buried in the lot. One died at age 16; the other at age forty-four; she may have married or been single. If she was married and died before her husband, burying her in her family’s plot makes sense. Sally Mitchell Barney – Maria Mitchell’s oldest sister – died before her husband. She was buried in the Mitchell family plot and her husband remarried. When he died, he was buried in his second wife’s family plot. Lydia’s husband, Christopher, while raised as a Quaker would later become an ordained Universalist minister with parishes off-island. He was a collector of island stories, and after his death, a book he was working on, was completed by Lydia and published in 1901. I believe Lydia may not have had a marker for a long time because she died before at least two – if not all three – of her children. That may have left her with no one to oversee a proper internment. In Tuck’t In there is mention that records show the stone was still not there in 2007 – but I believe the records are likely wrong as the stone is there. Last year, we cleaned it. This year we hope to clean the stones of her two daughters who are interred in the plot. Please join us for this annual ritual. Registration is necessary and available on the MMA website. * Note: We have necessary permission from the cemetery to clean these stones.

THE MERIDIAN STONES “The month of June brings one of the most anticipated - and one of my favorite - days of the year, the solstice. In the northern hemisphere, this day is also known as the summer solstice, the first day of summer, and the longest day of year. This year the solstice takes place on Wednesday, June 21 at 10:58am Eastern. So, what does the solstice mean, and why should we care? To start, recall that the Earth’s axis is ‘tipped’ at 23.5 degrees with respect to the plane of our solar system. Over the course of a year, as the Earth orbits around the Sun, the axial tilt remains pointed in the same direction, towards the star Polaris, also known as the North Star. The solstices mark the two positions in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun when the axial tilt is pointed most directly towards or away from the Sun… Here on Nantucket, we can easily find our local meridian thanks to William Mitchell, the father of Nantucket’s famous daughter, Maria Mitchell, the first American woman astronomer. Among his many professions including teacher, astronomer, and cashier at the Pacific National Bank, William Mitchell was also a land surveyor…” Full June CURRENT SKY column now live at @nantucketcurrent — the best thing about Monday mornings. Photos by incoming Artist-in-Residence Tucker Finerty and words by Dr. Regina Jorgenson. #summersolstice #june #nantucket #meridianstones #mariamitchell #williammitchell #landsurveyor

DR. GIOVANNI FAZIO Where Are We? What Is Our Place in the Universe? In this segment of our Science Speaker Series, we will take a grand tour of the Universe, beginning at our planet Earth, traveling through our Solar System, Galaxy, and into extragalactic space, ending at the edge of the known Universe! We are humbled to have such a distinguished guide! Dr. Giovanni G. Fazio is currently a Senior Physicist at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard & the Smithsonian; Faculty Emeritus at the International Space University, Strasbourg, France; and for many years a Lecturer at the Astronomy Department of Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has performed research in the area of space astronomy for more that sixty years. He has been the Principal Investigator for instruments on three space telescope missions and Co-Investigator on a fourth space mission. He was the Principal Investigator for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope/Infrared Array Camera, which observed the Universe for more than sixteen years. He has served on numerous NASA advisory committees and was the recipient of many national and international awards. This talk is complimentary and presented via Zoom, please pre-register to join us! June 28 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST #GiovanniFazio #Space #Harvard #MIT #Smithsonian #MariaMitchell #MariaMitchellAssociation #Ammazing

“LOOK UP” at LOINES Join us today, June 1st, from 9:00pm - 10:00pm at Loines Observatory, for an impressive tour of Nantucket’s night sky! Get a chance to view the moon, planets, stars, nebulae, and even distant galaxies through the MMA’s telescopes. Learn more about the constellations, phases of the moon, the planets, and why eclipses happen. This stargazing program is designed to be engaging and interactive for all ages but with a focus on young adults and students of K-12 grades. This community-centered program provides an opportunity for students, educators, and families of Nantucket Island to visit the Loines Observatory and learn more about the night sky. This program is complimentary courtesy of the Weezie Foundation and other generous sponsors. Registration is required for this program and can be accessed via our website calendar. *Cancellation Policy* Open nights are weather contingent and are cancelled only if it is raining or there is a threat of a thunderstorm. Please check our website on the day of the event for weather updates; we will post by 4pm if the program is cancelled. 📷 by our Artist-in-Residence Henry Michaelis

CELEBRATING SEAS, SKIES AND VINES A warm thank you to everyone who joined our Executive Director Joanna Roche, and Special Guests: — Captain Daniel W. Bursch, (US Navy, Ret.) NASA Astronaut — Nicole Marchesi, Winemaker, Far Niente Winery — EJ Harvey, Chef and Proprietor of the Sea Grille — Aiden Feeney, Farmer and Proprietor, Fog Town Farm … during Nantucket Wine Festival. We gathered at the waterfront Underwood Cottage on scenic Hulbert Avenue to enjoy atmospheric aperitif with Captain Bursch, a four course Far Niente wine & dine featuring single vineyard and library selections, and dessert on the deck, beneath stargazing led by our our Dr. Regina Jorgenson, MMA Director of Astronomy. Proceeds benefited the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory. Look Up at at our Loines Observatory continues Thursday from 9:00PM - 10:30PM. This program is complimentary courtesy the Weezie Foundation and other generous sponsors. Registration is required for this program and can be accessed via our website calendar. Starting June 12th, our seasonal facilities open and we transition our stargazing focus to Open Nights! Sign up via our website. #mariamitchellassociation #nantucketwinefestival #farnientewinery #mariamitchell #nantucket #land #sea #skies #wine #beach

CLEAN WATER COALITION Loving the June issue of @nantucket_magazine — featuring Nantucket’s Clean Water Coalition founders, and ACKlimate partners — Joanna Roche of Maria Mitchell Association, Samantha Denette of Nantucket Shellfish Association and Emily Molden Nantucket Land Council — working collaboratively with the Town of Nantucket to lead by example in preserving our waters. A holiday weekend must read… #memorialdayweekend #MDW #NANTUCKET #nantucketshellfishassociation #nantucketlandcouncil #mariamitchellassociation #cleanwater #cleanwatercoalition #nantucketcleanwatercoalition

BIRD-A-THON Our fearless Ornithologist Ginger Andrews invited the island’s best birders to join her for the MMA Bird-a-Thon. The result? A weekend in time of 18 birders logging 94 unique bird species[!] including: Canada Goose Mute Swan Muscovy Duck Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Gadwall Mallard American Black Duck Northern Pintail Common Eider Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Ruddy Duck Double-crested Cormorant Common Loon Northern Gannet Bonaparte’s Gull Laughing Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Common Tern Least Tern American Oystercatcher Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Killdeer Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Dunlin Short-billed Dowitcher Willet American Woodcock Greater Yellowlegs Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Virginia Rail American Coot Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) Mourning Dove Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Cooper’s Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Barn Owl Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Blue Jay American Crow Common Raven Eastern Wood Pewee Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Wood Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren Red-eyed Vireo Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Eastern Towhee House Sparrow House Finch American Goldfinch Northern Cardinal Baltimore Oriole Brown-headed Cowbird Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle European Starling Rose-breasted Grosbeak 📷 by Tom Griswold

INNER AND OUTER SPACE Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, May 24 at 7:00PM EST as we welcome Dr. Nia Imara as one of our featured presenters for the May Science Speaker Series! "Interconnected: A Journey Through Inner and Outer Space" How do art and science connect? As an astronomer and visual artist, it’s a question Dr. Nia Imara is often asked. Her astronomy research aims to illuminate how stars are born in vast “stellar nurseries” residing in our Milky Way Galaxy and beyond. Her art is steeped in black culture and centers on people. How do the two go together? In this presentation, Dr. Imara will invite the audience on a journey through inner and outer space and share some of what inspires her as an artist-scientist. In doing so, she will explore some potential connections between art and science and how culture plays a major role in both of these uniquely human endeavors. This talk is complimentary and presented via Zoom, please pre-register via our website! Thank you to @bankofamerica @ciscobrewers and @whiteelephantresorts for their vital support of our Science Speaker Series. #Science #STEM #nantucket #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #NiaAmara #speaker #sciencespeakerseries

CURRENT SEA Waist deep to see the newest Current Sea column… Did you know that “blue horseshoe crab blood is worth around $15,000 per quart” due to its uber valuable usage in the medical industry? Learn all about horseshoe crab breeding season @nantucketcurrent — #horseshoe #horseshoecrab #nantucket #nantucketcurrent #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #fullmoon #aMMAzing

HENRY MICHAELIS The Maria Mitchell Association is delighted to host the opening of Artist-in-Residence Henry Michaelis this Memorial Day Weekend. The public opening will be held Sunday, May 28, 2023 from 5:30PM - 7:00PM at our 33 Washington Street space. Henry is a self-taught photographer, cinematographer, and a FAA licensed drone pilot. He specializes in drone, surf, and water photography. His body of work while in residency at the Maria Mitchell Association continues his focus on, and chronicle of, Nantucket and Cape Cod marine life. He is an alumnus of the Maria Mitchell Association’s award-winning Discovery Camp. Henry’s work will be on display until June 11, 2023. All are welcome at this opening. If you would like to receive invitations to future art openings at our gallery space, please sign up for our newsletter. #HenryMichaelis #MariaMitchellAssociation #MariaMitchell #nantucket #nantucketphotos #nantucketphotographer #nantucketphotography #photography #mdw #memorialdayweekend

MMA BIRD-A-THON How Many Species Will We Record?! How many birds can local birders find in twenty-four hours? It’s a challenge Island birders have been giving themselves for more than twenty years! From 5PM on Friday, May 19 through 5PM on Saturday, May 20, the Maria Mitchell Association invites birders of all ages, experienced and novice, on Nantucket, to participate in our annual Bird-A-Thon. At the close, birders come together to pool their lists and see how many species were here in that snapshot of time. The goal of the Bird-A-Thon is to encourage participants to notice birds in their daily lives. To register as a birder for this event, please follow the link in our website to register by Friday, May 19 at 12PM. Following the end of event, the MMA will host a live count session, to officially count the species seen, at the MMA Research Center on Saturday, May 20 at 5:30PM. Anyone birding on Nantucket in the Bird-A-Thon window is welcome to participate. MMA Members and Non-Members, Nantucket residents and non-residents can participate by donating; however, only birds counted on Nantucket qualify as a part of the official count! All donations to the Nantucket Bird-A-Thon support the MMA’s conservation of its renowned Edith F. Andrews Ornithology Collection and activities related to the MMA’s work on bird conservation education. 📷 by Tom Griswold

WORKS IN PROGRESS I JACK DUBINSKY   In the second installment of the ACKlimate Nantucket spotlight series with Maria Mitchell Association, ACKlimate and MMA Aquarium Director Jack Dubinsky convene at the Maria Mitchell Association Natural Science Museum to expand on native biodiversity, and in particular our tiniest shelled friends; Nantucket Bittium.   #ACKLIMATE #NANTUCKET #MARIAMITCHELL #MARIAMITCHELLAASOCIATION #CLIMATEADAPTATION

WINGED NANTUCKET We see more than just birds on our walks with MMA Ornithologist Ginger Andrews! When birds are active, often butterflies are too. A mourning cloak butterfly, common name tortoiseshell, often appears in mid-winter thaws, this one was seen on May 7th. Eastern Towhees are one of our most abundant summer sparrows. Also called "chewinks" after one of their calls, they can be found in scrub and shrubby areas, singing or flinging leaves in search of insects. Eastern Kingbirds, known as one of the "Tyrant flycatchers" are aggressive defenders of nests and young. Even a Red-tailed Hawk will flee the territory of an enraged Kingbird…They are fierce mamas! Photos by Tom Griswold. Words by Ginger Andrews. Join Ginger Saturdays for her much loved Nantucket Bird Walks! #Birding #nantucket #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #BirdWalks #BirdsofNantucket #Butterflies #Birds #tortoiseshell #easterntowhee #mothersday #happymothersday #nantucketmothers #mother #mama

OPENING SOON Mesmerized by the work of our incoming Artist-in-Residence Henry Michaelis… Join our mailing list via our website to not miss upcoming invitations to our summer artist residency series at our waterfront Washington Street space. #henrymichaelis #mariamitchell #marinelife #ocean #nantucket #fish #nature #naturalworld #mariamitchellassociation

SKATE BABIES We are having MUCH fun chronicling skate embryonic development at the MMA Natural Science Museum. The baby will be moved to its new home at the MMA Aquarium, opening June 12 for the season, where you can come visit it to see it develop! This baby was found washed ashore on Sconset Beach by Aquarium Director Jack Dubinksy and Natural Science Museum Director Izzy Gaw. Welcome skate baby to the MMA family! #skate #baby #skatebaby #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #mariamitchellaquarium #nantucket #nantucketmarinelife

IN PROFILE Repost from @nantucket_magazine — “Female leadership is sewn deep into the fabric of Nantucket. Our island offers a deep history of examples of women taking the lead; whether in business with Petticoat Row, astronomy with Maria Mitchell, or countless other lesser-known women who ran Nantucket while the majority of men were off to sea whaling. In our May issue, we had the pleasure of highlighting just a few of the many women who continue the legacy of strong female leadership on Nantucket on our cover. From town government to business to education to health care, here are a few of the individuals who are helping define the next generation of female leadership on the island: — Courtney Bridges | Executive Director of the Artists Association of Nantucket — Carlise Jensen | Executive Directors of @eganmaritime — Alicia Graziadei | Director of the @ackcommunityschool — Joanna Roche | Executive Director of the @mariamitchellassociation — Kaley Kokomoor | Executive Director of the @nantucketbookfestival — Shantaw Bloise-Murphy | Director of @townofnantucket Culture and Tourism — Mary Bergman | Executive Director of the @ackpreservationtrust — Alicia Carney | Executive Director of @nantucketdreamland Show some love for these Leading Ladies of Nantucket.” To read the full story, pick up a copy of @nantucket_magazine 📸 @kitnoble #Nantucket #NantucketIsland #NantucketMagazine #NantucketLeaders #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #JoannaRoche

CURRENT SKY So much appreciation to @nantucketcurrent for the addition of a new monthly NANTUCKET CURRENT SKY column by our very own Dr. Regina Jorgenson. Join Dr. Jorgenson this Thursday for Look Up Open Night at the MMA’s Loines Observatory! Read the full very timely town meeting related column on @nantucketcurrent — Our Look Up stargazing program is designed to be engaging and interactive for all ages but with a focus on young adults and students of K-12 grades. This program is complimentary courtesy of the Weezie Foundation and our incredibly generous sponsors. Registration is required for this program and can be accessed via the link on our website calendar! To see more of the incredibly talented Charity Grace Mofsen’s astrophotography, join us for her upcoming art show this summer at our 33 Washington Street space. Sign up for our newsletter to receive an invitation to the opening. UPDATE: The lighting bylaw detailed in our column was approved 292 to 152 in town meeting last night. Thank you to all who voted! We are thrilled with these protections, created for all to enjoy. #nantucketsky #nantucketcurrentsky #nantucket #stars #sky #astronomy #opennight #lookup #observatory #loinesobservatory

HOMEWORK HELP 2:30pm - 3:30pm Wednesday- Friday Hinchman House 7 Milk Street Do you or your family have science, math, or history homework that you could use some help with? Or do you just want to explore how to use laboratory microscopes and equipment? Drop in to the Natural Science Museum and dive into the world of exploration! This program is FREE to all students. Please register by emailing Jónelle Gurley, Director of Science and Programming, at jgurley@mariamitchell.org. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #homework #nantucket #school #stem #science #math #history #learning #spring

MUSEUM HOURS Maria Mitchell Association’s Natural Science Museum is a great place to learn about the plants and wildlife of Nantucket, and take respite from town meeting among the animals. Open today 10AM - 2PM. Admission is complimentary for MMA members. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #nantucket #townmeeting #science #sciencemuseum #frogs #animalsofnantucket

LOOK UP Repost from @ackcps • Love seeing our free LOOK UP T-Shirts designed by @malcolmbrooks in the wild! Join us for LOOK UP tomorrow night at 8:30PM at Loines Observatory! This stargazing program is designed to be engaging and interactive for all ages but with a focus on young adults and students of K-12 grades. This community-centered program provides an opportunity for students, educators, and families of Nantucket Island to visit the Loines Observatory and learn more about the night sky. This program is complimentary courtesy of the Weezie Foundation and other generous sponsors. #LOOKUP #AMMAZING #MARIAMITCHELL #MARIAMITCHELLASSOCIATION

EARLY RELEASE DAY NPS's last Early Release Day is May 10… We are excited to offer programming from 12pm - 3pm. Student pick-up from NES and NIS provided at 12pm. Program ends at the Natural Science Museum, 7 Milk Street, at 3pm. | Generously Funded by the Adam Bloom Scholarship Fund.

CALLING ALL STARGAZERS Please join us Thursday, July 27, 2023 for our annual Stargazer Gala! Caravan with us to the shores of Polpis Harbor, to a field of tents, where we’ll dine and dance under the very stars that have guided the explorers before us. Guests will enjoy the beautiful colors of the night sky as the sun sets, dancing to musical guest stars Fleetwood Macked, delicious food by Island Kitchen, stargazing with our professional astronomers, and more! Come dance the night away all while celebrating and supporting the MMA and enjoying a good old-fashioned Nantucket gala. This incredible night is made possible with thanks to our visitors, staff, supporters, gala committee and sponsors. Tickets now available! #StargazerGala #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #summer #nantucket #nantucket #gala #mma #ammazing #summergala #nantucketparty #daffy #daffy2023

YELLOW WARBLERS FOR DAFFY Yellow Warblers have arrived and are singing this week. Males have orange streaking on the breast in breeding season. They look particularly beautiful against the daffodils covering the island right now! Join MMA Ornithologist and island treasure Ginger Andrews for some birding next week! Owl Prowl continues Thursday May 4th. Register on our website calendar! #birding #nantucket #birds #owls #owlprowl #mariamitchellassociation #mariamitchell #mma #ammazing #yellowwarbler #daffy #daffy2023 📸 by Trish Pastuszak

USS NANTUCKET So excited to announce that this Friday, April 28 from 12-1PM, the MMA will host USS Nantucket Cmdr. Yakubisin for a special edition “Nature Story Hour” at the Hinchman House Natural Science Museum, 7 Milk Street! Then this Saturday, April 29, Cmdr. Yakubisin will be riding in the Nantucket Daffodil Festival Car Parade in a 1967 Jeep Jeepster owned by Andrea and Neil Planzer and sponsored by the MMA. The Jeep’s theme is saluting female leaders and honoring the connections between Maria Mitchell and the US Coast Survey, US Nautical Almanac, and US Navy. Mitchell was one of the first women, if not the first, to work for the US federal government. In her early years, Maria Mitchell worked alongside her father, William, as he worked for the Coast Survey taking astronomical and meteorological data that was then used to create tide maps – a critical tool needed for the US Navy and all mariners.  She would later work for the Coast Survey on her own as well.  In 1849, Mitchell was appointed as the first female computer for the US Nautical Almanac Office, which was attached to the US Navy. Her role involved performing complex mathematical calculations that were used to determine the ephemeris of Venus. This helped ships use the data collected for celestial navigation to determine the position of their ship while at sea.”

Cmdr. Yakubisin and PCU Nantucket will also be visiting Cyrus Peirce Middle School and Nantucket High School in an effort to reach local students and island residents, while sharing the mission of the USS Nantucket (LCS 27) to the broader community! #Daffy #mariamitchell #nantucket #Daffy2023 #aMMazing #mariamitchellassociation

LOOK UP …will be held Thursday Apr 27th 8:00pm - 9:00pm at Loines Observatory, 59 Milk St Ext. Join our astronomers for an impressive tour of Nantucket’s night sky. Get a chance to view the moon, planets, stars, nebulae, and even distant galaxies through the MMA’s telescopes! Learn more about the constellations, phases of the moon, the planets, and why eclipses happen. This stargazing program is designed to be engaging and interactive for all ages but with a focus on young adults and students of K-12 grades. This community-centered program provides an opportunity for students, educators, and families of Nantucket Island to visit the Loines Observatory and learn more about the night sky. This program is complimentary courtesy of the Weezie Foundation and other generous sponsors. Registration is required for this program and can be accessed via the link on our calendar. Open nights are weather contingent and are cancelled only if it is raining or there is a threat of a thunderstorm. Please check our website on the day of the event for weather updates; we will post by 4pm if the program is cancelled! 📷 photo by 2023 incoming artist-in-residence @charitygrace_photography for @nantucketcurrent

CURRENT SEA A sea-sized thank you to @nantucketcurrent for the editorial opportunity to comment monthly on local sea and sky news! Please head over to Nantucket Current to check out our inaugural April column on Nantucket sea life, by our very own Aquarium Director, and microscope maestro, Jack Dubinksky. Next up is our sky report with Dr. Regina Jorgensen. Subscribe to Nantucket Current’s free newsletter to stay current. To learn more about the marine plankton community, join the Maria Mitchell Association for Microscope Mayhem, a workshop-style program where we discuss plankton biodiversity and practice using microscopes while observing 20+ species of live plankton collected from Nantucket. #mariamitchellassociation #nantucketcurrent #nantucketsea #nantucketmarinelife #nantucket

SPRING VACATION The Natural Science Museum will be open with expanded hours this week during school vacation! We are open 10AM-2PM tomorrow, Tuesday, through Sunday! Our calendar is filling up! To see our full range or programming and links to sign up, please visit our website and click on “calendar” in the upper right hand corner, on desktop or mobile! #MARIAMITCHELL #MARIAMITCHELLASSOCIATION #SCIENCEMUSEUM #AMMAZING

SCIENCE SPEAKER SERIES Dr. Jedediyah Williams teaches mathematics and computer science at Nantucket High School where he has led both the Science and Mathematics departments. He is a 2019 recipient of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the highest award our nation bestows for teaching. While a National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching Fellow in STEM, Jed worked on the Triple Helix Project where he helped to design and implement culturally situated design tools for mathematics classrooms in Albany Public Schools. Jed's primary area of research is computational dynamics for the simulation of robotic systems, and in 2014 he was a member of Lockheed Martin's team of finalists in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. While teaching, Jed has continued to research and develop robotic systems. He was a qualification winner and finalist in the 2017 NASA Space Robotics Challenge, as well as a qualification winner, finalist, and top five winner overall in the 2021 NASA Space Robotics Challenge, Phase 2. In his presentation, “The Ethics of a STEM Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Jed will discuss the onus on educators, when handing over the tools of science and mathematics, for teaching their responsible use. Jed indicates that, “Math-based technologies are ubiquitous, often do not work, and are capable of broad and arbitrary harm. Particularly as data science and new tools are being incorporated into STEM education, it is crucial that we present mathematics as a human endeavor with consequences.” Join us to explore these consequences of AI in our modern endeavors. This talk is complimentary and presented via ZOOM, please pre-register via our website! April 26 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #stem #nantucket #nantuckethighschool

WORKS IN PROGRESS I JACK DUBINSKY   In this installment of our spotlight series, ACKlimate and Maria Mitchell Association’s Aquarium Director Jack Dubinsky convene at the Maria Mitchell Association Natural Science Museum to discuss native biodiversity on Nantucket… • • • • • • •   #ACKLIMATE #NANTUCKET #MARIAMITCHELL #MARIAMITCHELLAASOCIATION #CLIMATEADAPTATION #BIODIVERSITY #NATIVE #NATIVEBIODIVERSITY #MARINELIFE #OCEAN #SEA #WATER #ECOLOGY #SCIENCE #STEM

INDICATOR SPECIES Male Red-winged Blackbirds arrive early and defend their nesting areas with raucous song and display of their bright red ‘epaulets’! They can be found in bushes along wetlands on Nantucket, as captured by our friend Fred Hodder. Living on an island, Spring showcases the beauty of the natural world after the dormant winter months. We can start to see plants emerging from their dormant state, seedlings sprouting from the ground, and once hibernating animals running around playfully [including humans]. As the day length [thankfully] increases, this can directly change the morphology, physiology, and behavior of many Nantucket critters. Since Spring is characterized by average daily temperatures rising and longer days, the timing of this change becomes a little muddled when considering rising temperatures amidst climate change. We are seeing Spring come earlier, which in turn can mean trees and flowers bloom earlier than is typical. [Hello March Daffodils.] We have seen birds adjust when they migrate to warmer climates. Our bird friends are facing new obstacles due to this temporal shift, such as adequate sources of food once they arrive, and synchronized timing of migrating mates, not unlike our inability to get a table for dinner and cleaned out grocery store shelves come summer. Continuing to observe how our natural world is impacted by climate change allows us to make the best choices to support our animal, plant, sky, land water and fellow human health. 📸 by Fred Hodder *text contributions from Ginger Andrews + Izzy Gaw

TINY DANCERS If you squint, you may see these little jellies squirming around in the harbor! Hybocodon prolifer (no common name) are less than 1/2 inch in length and are harmless to humans. They tend to reproduce in April when the plankton they eat are abundant… Consistently exquisite microscope work by our very own Jack Dubinkski. Join him for our Microscope Mayhem program, Fridays - Sundays at the MMA Research Center this Spring! #microscopy #microscope #nantucket #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation

EASTERN PHOEBES Eastern Phoebes are arriving for the summer! Though known for their messy nesting habits, these plump little songbirds are welcomed residents by many homeowners for their ceaseless insect patrol. Bird Walks continue Saturdays with MMA Ornithologist Ginger Andrews. Join us! 📸 by Trish Pastusazk #easter #spring #passover #nantucket #daffodils

DARK SKIES + SUNNY DAYS One can’t help but feel Spring on Nantucket. The birds are returning, chirping us awake in the morning, and the “daffies” are blooming, like brilliant highlighters, warmly dotting paths and roads across the island. As residents and visitors return to the island, we invite everyone to enjoy International Dark Sky Week, April 15-22. The mission of the International Dark Sky Association is to promote "win-win solutions that allow people to appreciate dark, star-filled skies while enjoying the benefits of responsible outdoor lighting." Their website has relatable, accesible tips on how to light your space without tampering with the night sky. The inky night sky isn’t just beautiful. It’s a major highway for birds, whose guidance systems can be mortally wounded by artificial light. On Nantucket, in celebration of this annual event, the MMA will host a free public Open Night at Loines Observatory on Thursday April 20, from 8-9pm. Our summer calendar will soon be live on our website, and available in print at MMA locations across the island. This season, we welcome a rich Spring through Fall roster of artists in residence at our 33 Washington Street space. Among them is local talent, Charity Grace Mofsen, whose astrophotography presents an enthralling brand of portraiture. The dark skies of Nantucket allow her to capture ethereal scenes and still life. All artist openings will be free and open to the public. Resident artists will be offering work for sale, as well as public workshops, lectures and classes. Happy Passover and Easter week to all who celebrate! #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #internationaldarkskyweek #astrophotography #astroportrait #photographyclasses #nantucket #charitygracemofsen #charitygrace

PINE WARBLER TRICKLE Pine Warblers are trickling back to Nantucket, as captured by MMA Ornithologist Ginger Andrews, leading: — Owl Prowl kicking off the evening of April 6th — Bird Walks kicking off the morning of April 8th Please check out our full birding line-up on our website calendar!

PURE POETRY Repost @harvardplatestacks | Antonia Maury is credited with writing poems while doing astronomical work that her professor, Maria Mitchell, began. For more color on the women who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the nineteenth century, analyzing images of the stars to fantastic effect, we recommend Dava Sobel’s The Glass Universe. We had the pleasure of hosting Sobel to speak at both the MMA and MMWSS in 2018. Relatedly, the MMO plate collection, consisting of approximately 8,000 photographic glass plates, was produced by the efforts of several professional astronomers and hundreds of students from 1913 to 1995. It is one of the richest and most uniform for a few selected areas of the sky in the constellations of Cygnus, Sagittarius, and Scutum that are especially rich in variable stars. In 2001-2002, the Maria Mitchell Observatory digitized all the 8000+ photographic plates obtained with its 7.5-inch Cooke/Clark refractor during those eight decades of research (see Schaefer, B.E., Sky & Telescope, vol. 103, No.3, p. 42). The digitized copies were first put on CD-ROM and later copied to a hard-disk storage device. Their CD or DVD copies are available for the scientific community on request that should be addressed to Dr. Regina Jorgenson at rjorgenson@mariamitchell.org #poetry #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #harvard #theglassuniverse #sky #land #sea #nantucket #constellations #photographicplates #archives #smithsonian #women #science #nature #naturalworld

APRIL OIKA "Rich has done the monumental work of laying out the story of who we are, and how we came to be here. No one who takes this course will come away unmoved by the wonder of it all” —Jessica Waite, past Oika for Earthlings attendee MMA scientist-in-residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, is back for the April series of Oika for Earthlings! Oika refers to the relational intelligence of nature that can be perceived and expressed through humans. In this weekly, 90-minute online class, we will take a deep dive into the principles and practices of Oika. Attend from anywhere — this program meets weekly on Zoom! Week One (April 5): What does the physics of the early universe tell us about the interconnectivity of all things? How does light become us? Week Two (April 12): We'll explore a cosmic zoo of celestial features to see how humans may join the family of galactic phenomena. Week Three (April 19): A special planet emerges as a home for new kinds of life and intelligence to flourish. Week Four (April 26): Life goes wild in animal bodies and a riot of ecologies awakens "endless forms most beautiful," plus, we explore the human dynamics of Oika and tie it all together through "Earthling Theory." **April 29: Option to join Rich on-island for an "Earth Story Walk." Pre-Registration is required for this workshop, which is a four-week series. Cost per-participant: $150 (Members receive a 10% discount). Registration deadline: April 4, 2023, at 6pm Program dates: April 5, 12, 19, 26, **29 Program times: 6pm-7:30pm Contact email: rblundell@mariamitchell.org

BIRDATHON Bird-a-thon registration is officially open! 2023 marks Mass Audobon’s 40th year of raising critical funds to protect the nature of Massachusetts through an exciting 24-hour birding competition. Learn more about how to get involved and register today, link in their bio. #birding #birdwatching #birdingcompetition #birdathon #birdathon2023 #mabirdathon #massachusetts #fundraising #nonprofit #massaudubon 📸 by MMA’s incredible Ornithologist Ginger Andrews

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Please join us for a Food for Thought Lecture today “All About Octopuses” with the MMA’s incredible Jack Dubinsky from 5:30–6:30 at the NHA’s Whaling Museum. This lecture is FREE for all. In this talk, Dubinsky will discuss the unique biology of octopuses, with a focus on examining some of the common myths about these peculiar cephalopods. He will also share some of his favorite stories from raising Cthulhu, the Maria Mitchell Association’s mischievous octopus. This event is presented by our friends at @ackhistory and the “One Book One Island” book selection: The Soul of the Octopus from @nantucketatheneum | Register @ackhistory 📖 🐙

MICROSCOPE MAYHEM Fridays through Sundays convening at the MMA Research Center, we’ll explore some hidden gems of Nantucket and discover amazing microscopic creatures while learning how to operate scientific-grade compound microscopes! We will investigate water samples from the ocean and ponds in hopes of identifying a variety of organisms. At least one adult must sign with children, This program is designed to be interesting for adults and children ages 10 and older. Pre-registration is required and registration ends at 12pm the day of the program. Cost Per Participant: $15 (Members receive a 10% discount) Register on our website under calendar! #Maria mitchell #mariamitchellassociation #spring on #nantucket

SCIENCE SPEAKER SERIES Where is the Science in Forensic Science? Dr. Amy Hinson is a distinguished educator of the sciences at Nantucket High School, where she has a fostered passion and love for science through her course offerings, most notably so in her Forensic Science course. She is a post-doctoral fellow of the Yale University postdoctoral program, where she focused on biochemistry and molecular biophysics with an emphatic research application in neuroscience. In her presentation, “Where is the Science in Forensic Science?” Dr. Hinson will discuss the intersection of the understanding of scientific processes, facts, and how they help to solve crimes, as there is often much debate on where to find the actual science in forensic sciences. This talk is complimentary and presented via ZOOM, please pre-register on our website! A huge thank you to @bankofamerica @ciscobrewers and @whiteelephantresorts for their generous support of this series. Join us: March 29 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #nantucket #forensics #science #forensicscience

BEACH BIOBLITZ Meet us at Jetties Saturdays from 1:45pm-4pm to learn about the ecology and geology of Nantucket's unique shoreline. We will explore the shells and bones of various species of local marine animals, including mole crabs, sand fleas, shore birds, beach insects, and seals. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #crabs #spring #seals #birds #insects of #nantucket #worldwaterday

SCIENCE FESTIVAL We were blown away by all our wonderful visitors to the annual science festival, having so much fun going through snaps… especially of the many faces of our Izzy Gaw! A huge thank you to our incredible partners who made this day so colorful and special. #science #nantucketsciencefestival #nantuckethighschool

INTERN REUNION We love seeing our interns in the wild! This sweet shot was snapped by three of our 2022 interns who met up in Boston over their Spring Break this past week! We’re so excited to be in the final rounds of intern hiring for the 2023 season.

HELLO PI DAY Physicist Larry Shaw founded Pi Day in 1988. During the initial Pi Day festivities, folks marched around one of the circular spaces in the Exploratorium in San Francisco while eating many fruit pies. Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Many people and institutions now celebrate Pi Day. NASA has an online celebration of Pi Day. On their site you can find many resources, including a Pi Day Challenge, along with lessons and downloads. The Pi Day challenge allows the public to solve some of the same problems NASA scientists and engineers do using pi… 📷 Shaw in 2007 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco #piday #pi #pie

REVEAL OF ARTEMIS MOON MISSION SPACESUIT… “A spacesuit prototype of what NASA astronauts, including the first woman, plan to wear on the surface of the Moon during the agency’s Artemis III mission, is set for reveal during a televised event hosted by Axiom Space beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT (9:30 a.m. CDT) Wednesday, March 15, from Space Center Houston in Texas. The event will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. NASA selected Axiom Space to deliver a moonwalking system to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole. Planned during the reveal activities are remarks from NASA and Axiom Space experts, a suit demonstration, as well as question-and-answer sessions with media and students.” — NASA 📷 A close-up view of an astronaut's bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the moon. While astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit. Credits: NASA

THE WOMEN …and men, who run the Maria Mitchell Association, were kindly captured on a frosty day in February by our friend, and incoming artist-in-residence @charitygrace_photography #internationalwomensday #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation

NANTUCKET SCIENCE FESTIVAL Please join us next Saturday March 18th from 10:00am - 2:00pm at our Nantucket High School Gym for the 2023 Nantucket Science Festival, in partnership with the Nantucket Community School! This day of family fun is designed to showcase current research, student projects, and lots of community STEAM fun! The 2023 Nantucket Science Festival Theme is Nantucket Science — What actions are we taking today that will positively impact our island tomorrow? FREE ADMISSION

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY “We must not only be ready to help women into new occupations, but we must make women willing to enter them.” —Maria Mitchell Papers, Women’s Congress Today, among all days, is a day to build up the women and girls of our community. Happy International Women’s Day, on behalf of the legacy of Maria Mitchell — and the many women of varying ages, ethnicities and backgrounds, whose education she fiercely championed. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #internationalwomensday #women of the #world #science #technology #education #girls

SAVE THE DATE The MMA’s Stargazer Gala will be held July 27, 2023. We are all explorers of the natural world… Caravan with us to the shores of Polpis Harbor, to a field of tents, where we'll dine and dance under the very stars that have guided the explorers before us. Tickets available in May. Please email Logan Gomes regarding sponsorship and partnership opportunities at lgomes@mariamitchell.org

WWWINTER BREAK We welcome students on their school breaks to join us for days of adventure, exploration, and inquiry. Each day will have a different theme guiding us through MMA properties, and Nantucket locations (winter weather permitting). DATES Winter Break February 27 - March 3, 2023 9am - 2pm Registration sign up is per day. Scholarships available through the Adam Bloom Scholarship Fund. Visit our website to register! #mariamitchellassociation #nantucket #winter

TURTLE LOVE It’s Valentine’s Day every weekend at the Natural Science Museum. Visit us Friday though Sunday! #turtle #science #museum #nantucket #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation

OIKA FOR EARTHLINGS Beginning in March, our five-part series of virtual workshops, led by MMA scientist-in-residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, will dive into the principles and practices of “Oika,” which refers to the relational intelligence of nature that can be perceived and expressed through humans.   During each session, participants will view and discuss short films on Oika topics, and explore the science of ecological intelligence. In the fourth week of the program, participants are invited to join Dr. Blundell on an “Earth Story Walk,” which traces out the entire story of the universe as a hike through Nantucket trails. Below is a breakdown of the sessions and their focus.   · What does the physics of the early universe tell us about the interconnectivity of all things? How does light become us? · We’ll explore a cosmic zoo of celestial features to see how humans may join the family of galactic phenomena. · A special planet emerges as a home for new kinds of life and intelligence to flourish. · Life goes wild in animal bodies and a riot of ecologies awakens “endless forms most beautiful.” · We explore the human dynamics of Oika and tie it all together through “Earthling Theory.”   Pre-registration is required before February 28, 2023. The cost per participant is $150.   Dr. Rich Blundell is an ecologist and philosopher working at the convergence of art, science, nature, and culture. As the founder of Oika, his research examines how transformation happens across the scales of person, place, and planet. Dr. Blundell’s research and work has received numerous grants and awards including, an ongoing TIDES innovators award, The National Science Foundation grant for “Science Out There,” the Michael Brinkman Award, and “The Deep Time Values” video award for “An Earth Story.” Blundell’s creative video work has appeared on PBS, National Geographic, and numerous social media platforms. He is currently the scientist-in-residence at the MMA.

AFTERSCHOOL LOVE For the next four weeks, every Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday from 2:20pm - 4:50pm, we’ll enjoy our Winter Series Weeks! February 14- 16* February 21- 23 Winter Break Programs- Feb 27 - March 3 March 7-9 March 14- 16* * February 15, and March 15 are Early Release Days. Program will run from 12 -3pm | It’s not too late to sign up! Join us. Program Flat Rate: $50 Members can sign in for 10%-member discount. #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #winterbreak #nantucket #winter

LOVE DAY Happy Valentine’s Day from all our residents! Thank you to Will Evans, MMA Fall 2022 Natural Science Museum intern, for demystifying fear around our friendly snake… Fiddlestick. Perhaps there’s a metaphor in there, especially on a day devoted to sharing love, an open question of our preconceptions about who or what is lovable… “Muah!” #valentines #mariamitchell #gartersnake #science #nantucket #nantucketinternship #thamnophissirtalis

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN STEM Thank you to our friends @nantucketfootprints and Remain Nantucket for highlighting some of our amazing women in STEM, and pics from our recent representation at the AAS Meeting! International Women in STEM Day celebrates some of “the incredible women and girls in science, locally and beyond. Although the world seems precarious at times, their leadership, curiosity, and tenacity propel the scientific community to new heights. At ReMain Nantucket, we are proud to know and support these movers and shakers of today!” — @nantucketfootprints ⁠ @loringnatureack⁠ @envisionresiliencechallenge⁠ @nantucketlandbank⁠ @ackconservation⁠ @nantucketlandcouncil⁠ @mariamitchellassociation⁠ ⁠ #womenleaders #science #stem #womeninscience #nantucket #lindaloring #remainnantucket #science #techology #engineering #mariamitchellassociation #nantuckeandbank #nantucketlandcouncil #women

Repost from @nantucketnewschool • Thank you @mariamitchellassociation for having the 5th grade! 🔬Students participated in a lab focusing on vascular vs. nonvascular plants. • • • #nantucketnewschool #nantucket #nantucketisland #visitnantucket #ack #ammazing #mariamitchell #mariamitchellassociation #STEM

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE We are so excited to announce our 2023 season of artists in residence at 33 Washington Street. Our range of photographers, painters, videographers, muralists, illustrative, and performance artists will have the opportunity to show and vend their work directly to interested patrons, funneling their unique skills into our unfolding narrative of the natural world. Please note our 2023 residency roster is full! So excited to share opening details as the season blooms.

STARGAZE WITH US Repost from @nantucket_cultural_district • Spend a night stargazing! The @mariamitchellassociation operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium and so much more... There's truly something for everyone. Don't miss MMA's upcoming programming— visit www.mariamitchell.org

MICROSCOPE MAYHEM Friday - Sunday 1:30pm - 2:30pm, join us at the MMA Research Center at 2 Vestal St! If you are curious about the hidden microscopic world, this is a great opportunity to explore hidden gems right beneath your nose. Join the MMA staff to discover amazing microscopic creatures while learning how to operate scientific-grade compound microscopes. We will investigate water samples from the ocean and ponds in hopes of identifying a variety of organisms. At least one adult must sign up with children. This program is designed to be interesting for adults and children ages 10 and older. Pre-registration is recommended and registration ends at 12pm the day of the program. Cost Per Participant: $15 (Members receive a 10% discount) Click on our website calendar to register for the weekend day of your choice!

CAPTAIN DAN Our Science Speaker Series resumes this month with Astronaut Daniel Bursch. Captain Dan Bursch, USN (retired), is a former Naval Flight Officer and astronaut. He completed four missions to space, including a 196-day mission to the International Space Station from December 2001 to June 2002 as a flight engineer on Expedition 4. You can hear Captain Bursch talk about his time working with Russian astronauts at the International Space Station—and his hobby of making mini Nantucket lightship baskets in space—as he kicks off our next Science Speaker Series on February 22, 2023 at 7pm at the Research Center. Please check our calendar for zoom details TBA, and kindly save the date https://www.mariamitchell.org/calendar

SUMMER DISCOVERY CAMP Pondering summer camp? Please join us on Nantucket! How to Register: Ensure your MMA Membership is current. If your membership is current for 2023, you’ll still need to activate your membership on our online portal. This step is required to register for programs and camp. Renew your membership if necessary, as registration is only open to Members starting this year. Navigate to the Discovery Camp page on our website. You can also get there from the top drop-down menu under “Programs.” Select your desired camp age group, then click the “Register” button at the top. Log in to our online portal with the email address and password you used to activate your MMA Membership. That email address will appear in the top-right corner once you’re signed in. You no longer need your Member number to sign in. Add camp weeks to your cart by following these steps: Click on the week for which you’d like to register. Under “Quantity,” select how many campers you want to register. Under “Youth Member,” enter the camper’s information. Add any additional required registration information. Once complete, click “Add to Cart.” Repeat this process for each camp program for which you’d like to register. Please let us know if you have any questions!

GUIDED WELLNESS WALKS We are thrilled to share a series of 6 free community walks. Each walk will take 45-60 minutes, and will be led by staff members from Nantucket Land Bank, Nantucket Land Council, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Mass Audubon, Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the Maria Mitchell Association. Registration is required at Eventbrite.com. Click on stories, post or visit any partner organizations to sign up!

MELVIN …enjoying a salad. Melvin welcomes visitors 10:00AM - 2:00PM Friday through Sunday at Hinchman House.

FIDDLE STICK Our resident Eastern Garter Snake, Fiddle Stick, enjoying his mouse lunch.